Heat transfer device



`May 29,1945. c. E. MEYERHOEFER HEAT TRANSFER DEVICE Fil'ed July 1o, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS My 29, 194.5 c. E. MEYERHOEFER 2,377,094

HEAT TRANSFER DE-VICE Filed July 10, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 44 ig f ATTORNEYS Fly Patented May 29, 1945 UNITED "STAT ES OFFICE naar 'rRANsFEaDEvIoE GarlE. Meyerhoefer, Brooklyn, N ."Y., assignorto E..*La.boratori'es, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a. coriporatl'onr of .New 'Y ork Appxicatioamwio, 1937seri'a1iNq. 152,877

(Cl. 2-57=137i 3 Claims.

This inventionzrelates to a heat transfer device and in@ its .more specific aspects aims t0: provide a functionally :and struc.tur-allyiimprovedappelait-le of this-character, primarily intended for-use in vehiclesbutuct-.necessarily limited :to such amarticularasscciation. i

According to itsjfpreterred aspects, Where., Yan apparatus `oonsiuucted in aocordance with the teachings ci v'the present rintenti.on is so Yernploved, it will be utilized rorheatins the air nithe' vehicle, Such apparatus may, however, obviously he utilized for the purpose of cooling air inthe `event y,it is @Oupled to some mechanism whereby the dry bulb temperature of ,its heat transferelementmey-pe maintained atoomparativelylowrange.

With the foregoing in mind it is anopject or the invention to furnish a unit which .will have high heat transfer valueand which may readily be yinstall and `coupled for example` tothe ooclingsystem lof. an internal combustion. motor.

A further object of .the invention` is that ofcon structure` u deviceof. this characterand by means or which1 air v.willfhe circulatedtand .distrbutediri an extremely eiicient .manner for raising the temperature of .an Aenclosure and/ or .defrostine certaihof .the .surfaces of. vsuch enclosure These functionsby means Qi thepresent apparatnsmay readily be accomplished tiranv operator-having virtuallyno skill; theunit being .entirely automaticlin. operation Aand requiring .practicallrjno attention.' Y A.

A still .further .object is that of .furnishing .a unit of this type embodying relativelyfew parts, each individually ,simple .and russedin foon struction .and .capable or .manufacturellareely ...by automatic machinery and methodssothat 'the apparatus .maybeplaced uponlthe 4market at Va relatively.nominaleure and will iuncton over long periods of time Withfr'eedomrom all dithculties.

With these and other .objects in mindrcierence is had Vtothe attached sheets of drawing-sinustratins practical embodiments .ci theinvention endinwhich i Fiel isa k'sectional plan view taken alone .the lines. l-.l andin the direction .or the arrows as indicatedin'is. 2,].butshowins `the core and motor casing .in elevation;

Fig. 21s rear View of the uiiitasshownin 1 1;.,and

freies. 3 .and 4 .are views.corresponding.to.Fis. .,1, but.. showing .v alternative .forms of apparatus.

.Referring ,tolligs 1 to .4,.thenumelfaf1 1.0 indie cates tliedash of amotor vehicle orother suit.E able :mounting .Surface `to which .the `unit is. se.- cured as by bolts H. The unit includes a .core embracing, vfor example, headers I2, between which is interposed a cellular or tube structure (not shown) through which air may move. The

headers have extending from them tubes L3 which, asshown, especially in Fig. v2,. are located preferably in diferenthorizontal planes so that the unitfmay eitherbe disposed as illustrated in Fig. 3,.01' turned `axially through an angle .of ninety .degrees- Without ,sacrifice of the thermosiphfm elect on the part of the fluid passing there.. through. Y

Normally, .a unit suchas the present will be employedfor the purpose of heating andV distributing, air. and. therefore the tubesy I3 will, under such. circumstances, beooupled tothe cooling system of. an.. internal combustion motor or tosoxne other suitable source of. heated fluid( In vView of the fact that the technique of such coupling is well known to vthose.skilled in the art, it ispelieved- .to be .unnecessary to describe or illustrate the samein detail.

Now, referringespecially to Figs. 1 and 2L twll he seen that the numeral 'i4 indicates a casing, the front-face of Which isformed With an opening l5 framing thecore. Thisicasing is continued rearwardly and may terminate `in a shroud plate I6 in line with which a fan I1 'is mounted. .This fan is supported upon a motor shaft I8 driven by lmotor [8 and plate 2i) may support the motor I9 and haveopeningsthroughwhich bolts H extend. While not essential, it is preferred, in this form of the invention, that plate 2i) be curved outwardly and forwardly'so as to similarly divert the air column directed by the blades of fan I1.

` A? lblower wheel casing 2| may -be suitably mounted Las part of .the apparatus and have an outlet duct 22. The forward edge of this casing deinesthe intake for the blower Wheel and is disposed in close proximity to, or adjacent thednner face of the core. Where a cellular type of core is employed it will not be necessary to use hales or partitions so that certain air passages or spaces through the core maybe substantially segregated or isolated yfrom others. This will, of course, follow, due to the well known characteristics ofa cellular structure. Where, however, a tube type of heat transfer unit is employed, partitions 4or Walls will have to be employed to achieve the de.- sired characteristics. Therefore, in order to clearly indicate the function which is desired, there has'b'een shown at 23 by dotted. lines in Fig. 1, a partition which, in eiect, furnishes an elongationor continuation of the intake of casing 2|.

Thus, air drawn into this casing` is segregated from .the air,sucked .through the core by fan l-T, and While `both air streams are `treatedby the same heat transfer structure, itfollows that there willbe no danger of conflictoccurring .between these streams. The flow through a lcasins 2l isfas afore brought 'out-firlldueed by a blower lvvheel which`,.as.shown, may `convenient 1y take the form of a plate 24 adixed to motor shaft I8 and mounting in conjunction with a ring a series of blades 26. Thus air is discharged through duct 22 and in association with this passage any suitable form of control may be provided for varying the volume of the discharge and directing the same as desired. Ordinarily, such air will be directed to a surface to be defrostedsuch as a windshield. Obviously, however, the air may be otherwise directed should this be desired.

Now, with a view to directing and controlling the air discharged by fan Il, it will be observed that a series of panels 2l may be hingedly secured as at 28,`adjaoent their rear edges to plate 20. The forward edges of each of the panels may be curved outwardly as indicated at 29 to furnish nger holds so that the panels may be conveniently swung. The pivot or hinge structures 28 should be of that type which will maintain the parts against all rattling, in addition to maintaining such parts -in any position to which they have been adjusted by the operator.

Referring next. to Fig. 3, it will be observed that substantially the same structure has been employed as described in connection with Figs. l and 2, except thatthe core is, in this instance, disposed adjacent the mounting wall or dash IU instead of beyond the air impelling structures. With this thought in mind, the mounting plate 30 may be formed with air intake openings 3l and be continued materially into the space within which the air is to be conditioned. Adjacent its outer edge, plate 30 mounts a shroud plate 32 as well as a motorsupporting strip or covei` 33.- In turn, supported by the latter through the mediumof hinge connections 3d, are panels 35 which may, of course, be swung to the positions indicated in dotted lines or even beyond such positions.

Again, in this instance the motor 36 which is supported by cover 33 serves to drive a fan 3l' and blower wheel 38. The former is disposed in the plane of the shroud plate and the latter is enclosed within a casing 3% provided witha discharge duct 4G. The intake end of casing 39 is again disposed in line with and in proximity to the core structure and it isobvious that air iiowing through the openings 3| will pass in the form of a column through casing 39 and duct i6 under the influence of blower wheel 38, while a concentrically disposed cylinder of air will iiow through the core beyond the casing 3% and in contact with the outer portion of blades 3l. y The latter air may, of course, be directed as desired by panels 35.

As shown in Fig. 4, substantially the same principle of segregation is utilized. As in the case of Figs. l and 2 the core is-disposed towards the space to be heated or cooled. In this instance, however, a reverse ow occurs. In other words, a casing 4| frames the forward face of the core and mounts, by means of hinges 42, a series of panels 43. The inner edges of these panels dene a space corresponding to the intake opening of blower wheel casing lill. Within this casing is disposed a blower wheel mounted upon motor shaft 45 which also supports a fan il in line with the opening of a shroud plate 48. A mounting plate 49 serves to support the motor 50 and is provided with a series of openings 5l through which air may be drawn into impelling contact with blades 41.

This airis, of course, distributed around casing 44 and through the passages of the core. It

fil

emerges through the opening of plate 4i and is deflected as desired by the panel structure 43. On the other hand, air drawn inward thru casing IM and discharged through duct 52 moves in opposition to, but not in interference with, the

Y rst named air flow. Accordingly, in this form of unit, segregation and reverse air flow is provided for.

It is also apparent that numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as dened by the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A heater including in combination a core to receive heating fluid, a blower-wheel housing having its entrance end disposed substantially immediately to the rear of said core and through the central portion of which air flows to said housing, a blower wheel within said housing, a fan disposed to the rear of said blower wheel and having its blades extending beyond said housing, a motor arranged beyond said fan and connected thereto, as well as to said blower wheel, a casing extending around said core, blower wheel, fan and motor, said casing being formed with openings for the passage of air at points beyond said core and motor, and a shroud plate extending inwardly from said casing to a point adjacent the tips of the fan blades and providing, between its body and said core, an enlarged space through which air flows at relatively low velocity.

2. A heater including in combination a core to receive heating uid, a blower-wheel housing having its entrance end disposed substantially immediately to the rear of said core and through the central portion of which air flows to said housing, a blower wheel within said housing, a fan disposed to the rear of said blower wheel and having its blades extending beyond said housing, a motor arranged beyond said fan and connected thereto, as well as to said blower wheel, a casing extending around said core, blower wheel, fan and motor, said casing being formed with openings for the passage of air at points beyond said core and motor; said fan having its blades disposed to blow air through said core, and a shroud plate extending inwardly from said casing to a point adjacent the tips of the fan blades and providing, between its body and said core, an enlarged plenum space through which air flows at relatively low velocity.

3. A heater including in combination a casing formed with an intake opening to be disposed adjacent a mounting surface, a core within said casing and arranged to the rear of said opening, liquid-conducting tubes connected to said core and extending beyond the same adjacent the intake opening and through the casing and the mounting surface, a motor also disposed within said casing and to the rear of said core, a blower wheel connected to said motor, a housing enclosing said wheel and formed with an intake extending immediately adjacent the central area of said core, a fan comprising a plurality of radially extending blades connected to said blower wheel and motor and extending beyond said housing, and a shroud plate extending inwardly from said casing to a point adjacent the tips of the fan blades and providing, between its body and said core, an enlarged space through which air flows at relatively low velocity.

CARL E. MEYERHOEFER. 

